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Updated: Jun 19, 2026

Enzymatic Synthesis of Epoxidized Metabolites of Docosahexaenoic, Eicosapentaenoic, and Arachidonic Acids
Published on: June 28, 2019
The development of endo-selective epoxide-opening cascades in water
Christopher J Morten1, Jeffery A Byers, Aaron R Van Dyke
1Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Abstract:
This tutorial review traces the development of endo-regioselective epoxide-opening reactions in water. Templated, water-promoted epoxide-opening cyclization reactions can offer rapid access to subunits of the ladder polyethers, a fascinating and complex family of natural products. This review may be of interest to those curious about the ladder polyethers and their hypothesized biogenesis, about organic reactions in water, and about the development and application of cascade reactions in organic synthesis.
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